Tom Cochrane, D.Mus (hon), (born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, whose story-telling songs have earned him the nickname "The thinking man's rocker." His best known song is the hit single "Life Is a Highway." He has also performed with the band Red Rider (alternatively known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider) Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba to Violet and Tuck Cochrane, a bush pilot. The family relocated to Etobicoke, Ontario in the West Deane Park area when Tom was four years old. He purchased his first guitar at age 11 by selling a toy train set. He attended Martingrove Collegiate Institute in the 1960's. In the early 1970s, he was performing in coffee houses across Canada. He eventually made his way to Los Angeles where he found a job writing theme music for My Pleasure is My Business, a Xaviera Hollander movie. Unable to find steady income from music, Cochrane returned to Toronto where he drove a taxi cab and later took a job on a Caribbean cruise liner to help pay the bills. Cochrane went back to Los Angeles in 1976, trying to sell his songs to publishers but without success, and returned to Toronto in 1977. Cochrane walked into the El Mocambo club one night in Toronto and came across a band of locals calling themselves Red Rider. After an audition, they agreed to Cochrane joining the band as lead singer and songwriter, a decision that would change their musical careers. After the Red Rider era, Cochrane set off on his soloist path again. In 1990, Cochrane took his family to West Africa where he helped to raise awareness and money for the World Vision famine relief organization. That experience shaped his next album Mad Mad World which contained the internationally acclaimed hit single "Life is a Highway". The three-CD box set Ashes to Dia
1 | Everything Comes Around | Mad Mad World |
2 | Washed Away | Mad Mad World |
3 | Emotional Truth | Mad Mad World |
4 | Brave And Crazy | Mad Mad World |
5 | Bigger Man | Mad Mad World |
6 | No Regrets | Mad Mad World |
7 | Mad Mad World | Mad Mad World |
8 | Get Back Up | Mad Mad World |
9 | The Secret Is To Know When To Stop | Mad Mad World |
10 | Friendly Advice | Mad Mad World |
11 | Life Is A Highway | Mad Mad World |
12 | All The King's Men | Mad Mad World |
13 | Sinking Like A Sunset | Mad Mad World |